DOCSLIB.ORG

Cruise Tourists in Spitsbergen Around 1900: Between Observation and Transformation

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Cruise Tourists in Spitsbergen Around 1900: Between Observation and Transformation CRUISE TOURISTS IN SPITSBERGEN AROUND 1900: BETWEEN OBSERVATION AND TRANSFORMATION Ulrike Spring (University of Oslo) Abstract This article examines the early commodification of the Arctic, using emerging cruise tourism to Spitsbergen as an example. Its objective is to investigate how an Arctic tourism discourse emerged around 1900 and what its central characteristics were. Covering the period between 1893, when German Arctic cruise tourism took off, and 1914, the article argues that early cruise tourists drew on exploration, adventure and leisure discourses in order to frame their experiences. However, unlike explorers and explorer travellers (Laing and Frost 2014), they wished only to a limited extent to experience adventure themselves, or report transformative experiences due to the sublime landscape; rather, the travel narratives indicate that they were interested above all in observing adventure, this process being facilitated by the advanced technology and luxurious lifestyle of the cruise ships. As the article demonstrates, this ambivalence between images of a wild, uncontrolled and sublime Arctic and an Arctic controlled by modern technology and modern life helped to map the Arctic as a tourism space. Keywords Arctic history; Spitsbergen/Svalbard; cruise tourism; exploration; nature/culture divide Setting off to the North In the 1890s, a bourgeoning European tourism industry discovered the archipelago of Spitsbergen as a travel destination. It extended the already well-trodden tourist path of steamship traffic along the coast of Norway, which had brought hundreds of tourists to the North Cape every summer since the 1870s, with numbers increasing during the 1880s (Spring 2017; Birkeland 2000). Most ships to Spitsbergen would take the route along the Norwegian coast and past Bjørnøya, whilst others would leave from the British Isles, in some cases stopping over at Iceland before passing the island of Jan Mayen, and from there on to Spitsbergen. Before the advent of cruise tourism to the High Arctic, North Cape had been the northernmost point on the journey for the majority of leisure travellers: now it became an intermediate stop, a halt in-between South and North. I argue elsewhere that the Cape had been an epistemological border between the known and the unknown for a long time; with the tourist moving northwards, the border moved as well (Spring 2017). As a result the European Arctic, including Spitsbergen, increasingly became part of a shared space of experience, no longer exclusively reserved for scientists, explorers, hunters, and wealthy hunter tourists. The activities of the latter continued in parallel with the constant growth of Northern tourism, however, and provided a frame of reference for the cruise tourists. Scientific and geographical expeditions embarked to the North in an effort to reach the North Pole, or to investigate the area around it. During the 1890s, when cruise tourism to the Arctic was taking off, Norwegian scientist explorer Fridtjof Nansen and his crew undertook the famous Fram expedition (1893–96), British Sir William Martin Conway explored the interior of Spitsbergen (several expeditions between 1894 and Nordlit 45, 2020 https://doi.org/10.7557/13.5026 © 2020 The author(s). This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited. Cruise Tourists in Spitsbergen Around 1900 1909), and Swedish explorer Salomon August Andrée and his team attempted to reach the North Pole by air (1896, 1897). Such expeditions became a tourist attraction in themselves, with tourists visiting Andrée, and encountering Conway and other explorers on Spitsbergen. The islands were also rapidly becoming a point of departure for spectacular and speculative attempts to reach the North Pole, perhaps best illustrated by US journalist, explorer and aëronaut Walter Wellman who, like Andrée, tried to reach the North Pole by air (1906–9). The early tourist tours reflected these varied interests in Spitsbergen; unlike today’s Arctic cruises with their focus on leisure and possibly adventure, they integrated different forms of tourism, including leisure, hunting, scientific investigation, and exploration/adventure.1 Laing and Frost have coined the term “explorer travellers” for elite travellers who travel to unknown regions or visit places that have either never been or are not often visited by tourists, and who draw on “the myths of the explorer and the discoverer” (Laing and Frost 2014, 4). Explorer travellers were a wide-spread phenomenon in the nineteenth century, as a result of Romanticism and its focus on the exotic and wild; urbanization, which went hand in hand with a growing interest in uncultivated nature; and exploration which, particularly in the late nineteenth century, led to European imperialism and colonialism on a global scale (see also Laing and Frost 2014, 5). Even though Laing and Frost (2014, 194) emphasize that the term may also include group tourists, explorer travellers in the nineteenth century and today have mostly been solitary travellers. Hence, while the concept helps us to understand the fundamental interrelatedness of exploration and tourism, reaching back through history, it might be less useful for defining late nineteenth- century cruise tourists who followed a pre-arranged schedule and often travelled in large groups, sometimes up to 300 people. Tourism scholars differentiate between various types of tourists, depending on factors such as their motivation, their mode of travelling and their destination (see Lohmann and Netto 2017, 161–167). As Lohmann and Netto (2017, 163) point out, such typologies are problematic, as they tend to subsume different people under a single category or, as often has been the case, define adventure and tourist practices from the perspectives of European travellers. At the same time they are helpful, as they provide an indication of specific features which characterize tourist experiences. Kolltveit (2006) defines the early Arctic cruise tourists as “deckchair explorers”, and points here at the general passivity of cruise tourists, who are transported to their destination and to solitary places, rather than actively seeking them out themselves. Whereas his term is useful for understanding a central feature of early Arctic cruise tourism, my material suggests that many of these early tourists played a more active role than this term allows for: they walked along Spitsbergen fjords and climbed mountains; some of them were scientists or dilettante scientists, who spent hours gathering research material; others collected stones, birds, and human remains as souvenirs; a number of tourists intervened directly in Spitsbergen animal life through hunting; and the cruise ships left behind traces of their presence, such as a wooden board with the name of the ship written on it. In other words, they defied categorization into a single type of tourist: at most we may call them explorer tourists or explorer mass tourists, although this does not necessarily cover the scientists on board. Kolltveit’s term (2006), however, makes it explicit that the tourists drew on exploration discourses and practices, whilst at the same time not wishing to be involved in the adventures of exploration, nor even organizing and 1 I have discussed this more extensively in Spring 2018. 40 Ulrike Spring executing them: rather, as I shall show, observing and enacting adventure were key activities on these tours, much more so than experiencing and living it. In this paper I draw on narratives of travel to Spitsbergen that were published in German language newspapers and journals or books between 1893, when German cruise tourism to Spitsbergen started on an extensive scale, and 1914 at the outbreak of the First World War, which was to change patterns of travel significantly.2 The German Arctic explorer captain Wilhelm Bade (1843–1903), who was among the key personnel in initiating organized Spitsbergen tourism, drew inspiration for his future career as a tourism manager from the Württembergische Spitzbergen-Expedition to the archipelago in 1891, which investigated the possibility of exploiting Spitsbergen’s natural resources. Tourism and exploration were thus closely intertwined from early on in German Northern discourse. The Spitsbergen cruise tours seem to have become very popular quite quickly, and by the mid-1890s travellers could choose between tours arranged by Bade and by steamship companies such as the Hamburg-Amerika-Line (HAPAG), the Orient Line and Norddeutsche Lloyd. The North Norwegian Vesteraalens Dampskibsselskab started a regular tour, aimed particularly at hunter tourists, between Trondheim/Hammerfest and Spitsbergen in 1896 (Arlov 2003, 211–212; K. J. 1896, 2; “Sportsroute nach Spitzbergen” 1897). Botanist Julius Wiesner, who took this tour and spent the summer in Spitsbergen in 1897 carrying out scientific research, pointed out that for enjoyment, leisure and a superficial experience of the islands, tours on the big cruise ships were suitable, but that people interested in gaining a deeper understanding of the landscape should use the Vesteraalen Dampskibsselskab’s route (Wiesner 1897, 1–2). While his criticism neglects the fact that cruise passengers were a widely heterogeneous group of tourists, it illustrates the difference between travellers spending a longer period of time on Spitsbergen
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Sverdrup-Among-The-Tundra-People
    AMONG THE TUNDRA PEOPLE by HARALD U. SVERDRUP TRANSLATED BY MOLLY SVERDRUP 1939 Copyright @ 1978 by Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, elec- tronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the regents. Distributed by : Scripps Institution of Oceanography A-007 University of California, San Diego La Jolla, California 92093 Library of Congress # 78-60483 ISBN # 0-89626-004-6 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS We are indebted to Molly Sverdrup (Mrs. Leif J.) for this translation of Hos Tundra-Folket published by Gyldendal Norsk Forlag, Oslo, 1938. We are also indebted to the late Helen Raitt for recovering the manuscript from the archives of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography. The Norwegian Polar Institute loaned negatives from Sverdrup's travels among the Chukchi, for figures 1 through 4. Sverdrup's map of his route in the Chukchi country in 19 19/20 was copied from Hos Tundra-Folket. The map of the Chukchi National Okrug was prepared by Fred Crowe, based on the American Geographic Society's Map of the Arctic Region (1975). The map of Siberia was copied from Terence Armstrong's Russian Settlement in the North (1 965) with permission of the Cambridge University Press. Sam Hinton drew the picture of a reindeer on the cover. Martin W. Johnson identified individuals in some of the photographs. Marston C Sargent Elizabeth N. Shor Kittie C C Kuhns Editors The following individuals, most of whom were closely associated with Sverdrup, out of respect for him and wishing to assure preservation of this unusual account, met part of the cost of publication.
    [Show full text]
  • The Italians in the Arctic Explora- Tions: a Critique Of
    Polar Record 48 (247): e9 (2012). c Cambridge University Press 2012. doi:10.1017/S0032247412000307 1 THE ITALIANS IN THE ARCTIC EXPLORA- Nencioni considers the possibility that the records testifying TIONS: A CRITIQUE OF THE REINTERPRETA- to international good will in the polar race were merely rhetoric TION OF NATIONALISM. Giuseppe Nencioni. 2010. that masked nationalist drives. Nevertheless, he concludes that Umeå: Umeå University/ Royal Skyttean Society. 131p, the sentiments expressed by Italian explorers were not only illustrated, paperback. ISBN 978-91-88466-76-1. genuine, but inspired by the liberal nationalist tradition in which they had been raised. Others might wish to probe more deeply into the discourses of international cooperation for the This small and modestly presented book has the ambitious aim good of science, following the example of scholars such as of countering a major trend in current historical assessments James Spiller (Spiller 2004). But even the most cynical reader of polar exploration during the late nineteenth and early twen- will have to admit that Nencioni has done excellent work in tieth centuries. As the author observers, numerous historians combing through a large number of expedition diaries, in which have linked Arctic and Antarctic expeditions with nationalism, he unearthed an array of intriguing facts about how different which, by the late nineteenth century, was increasingly charac- national groups interacted during their polar quests. terised by intolerance, aggressiveness, and violence. Nencioni The book, the second in the Northern Studies series from does not deny the connection, but he argues that nationalism, Umeå University, is very nicely produced, with numerous and especially the Italian nationalism inspired by Guiseppe illustrations.
    [Show full text]
  • The Norwegian North Polar Expedition, 1893-1896
    IV. AN ACCOUNT OF THE BIRDS BY ROBERT COLLETT AND FRIDTJOF NANSEN. L-n the first three sections of this paper, the observations imparted are put together from Nansen's journals, supplemented by his verbal com- ments and explanations during the preparation of the work. The last section gives the observations made during the time that the ship was drifting with the ice in the summers of 1895 and 1896, and is compiled from written and verbal information received from Scott-Hansen, Blessing and Mogstad, and also from the journals kept by Sverdrup. first section treats the The (I) of the journey along north coast of Siberia, from Yugor Strait, July 29th, 1893, until the closing in of the ship to the north-west of the New Siberian Islands on September 25th, 1893 (78 5<y N. Lat, 132 20' E. Long.). The birds observed during this time were principally on their way south- wards. After the closing in of the ship, no birds were seen until the fol- lowing year. The second section (II) gives the observations made at the time that the 'Fram* was drifting with the ice towards the NW., during the first summer, 1894, up to the time when Nansen and Johansen started on their sledge-journey, March 14th, 1895. This last point lies in about 84 N. Lat., < 1010 55 E. Lon g. The first bird seen in the spring of 1894 (a gull, probably Pagophila eburnea), appeared on May 13th; birds were seen now and again until after the middle of August. After August 23rd, or the day when all the channels and lanes about the ship began to freeze up, no birds were seen.
    [Show full text]
  • Catalogue of Place Names in Northern East Greenland
    Catalogue of place names in northern East Greenland In this section all officially approved, and many Greenlandic names are spelt according to the unapproved, names are listed, together with explana- modern Greenland orthography (spelling reform tions where known. Approved names are listed in 1973), with cross-references from the old-style normal type or bold type, whereas unapproved spelling still to be found on many published maps. names are always given in italics. Names of ships are Prospectors place names used only in confidential given in small CAPITALS. Individual name entries are company reports are not found in this volume. In listed in Danish alphabetical order, such that names general, only selected unapproved names introduced beginning with the Danish letters Æ, Ø and Å come by scientific or climbing expeditions are included. after Z. This means that Danish names beginning Incomplete documentation of climbing activities with Å or Aa (e.g. Aage Bertelsen Gletscher, Aage de by expeditions claiming ‘first ascents’ on Milne Land Lemos Dal, Åkerblom Ø, Ålborg Fjord etc) are found and in nunatak regions such as Dronning Louise towards the end of this catalogue. Å replaced aa in Land, has led to a decision to exclude them. Many Danish spelling for most purposes in 1948, but aa is recent expeditions to Dronning Louise Land, and commonly retained in personal names, and is option- other nunatak areas, have gained access to their al in some Danish town names (e.g. Ålborg or Aalborg region of interest using Twin Otter aircraft, such that are both correct). However, Greenlandic names be - the remaining ‘climb’ to the summits of some peaks ginning with aa following the spelling reform dating may be as little as a few hundred metres; this raises from 1973 (a long vowel sound rather than short) are the question of what constitutes an ‘ascent’? treated as two consecutive ‘a’s.
    [Show full text]
  • The Northern Routeing in the Arctic Sea and Russian History
    講演(02) The Northern Routeing in the Arctic Sea and Russian History Leonid M. Mitnik V.I. Il'ichev Pacific Oceanological Institute FEB RAS 690041 Vladivostok, Russia, e-mail: [email protected] “History is a lantern to the future, which shines to us from the past” (V.О. Klyuchevskiy, 1841-1911) “The history of the exploration of the North is full of heroic spirit and tragedy, voyages and expeditions that were accompanied with the geographical discoveries, the history of scientific studies, organization of a system of stationary and non-stationary observations, and creation of the scientific–technical support service for the Northern Sea Route (NSR) is a history of a fierce battle against the incredibly severe conditions of the Arctic”. The motivation to navigate the Northeast Passage was initially economic. In Russia the idea of a possible seaway connecting the Atlantic and the Pacific was first put forward by the diplomat Gerasimov in 1525. However, Russian settlers and traders on the coasts of the White Sea, the Pomors, had been exploring parts of the route as early as the 11th century. By the 17th century they established a continuous sea route from Arkhangelsk as far east as the mouth of Yenisey. This route, known as Mangazeya seaway, after its eastern terminus, the trade depot of Mangazeya, was an early precursor to the Northern Sea Route. Western parts of the passage were simultaneously being explored by Northern European countries, looking for an alternative seaway to China and India. Although these expeditions failed, new coasts and islands were discovered. Most notable is the 1596 expedition led by Dutch navigator Willem Barentz who discovered Spitsbergen and Bear Island and rounded the north of Novaya Zemlya.
    [Show full text]
  • Modern and Late Quaternary Depositional Environment of the St
    Modern and Late Quaternary Depositional Environment of the St. Anna Trough Area, Northern Kara Sea Edited by Ruediger Stein, Kirsten Fahl, Gennadij I. Ivanov, Michael A. Leviten, and Gennady Tarasov Ber. Polarforsch. 342 (1 999) ISSN 0176 - 5027 Modern and Late Quaternary Depositional Environment of the St. Anna Trough Area, Northern Kara Sea Ruediger Stein Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research Columbusstraße Bremerhaven, Germany e-mail: rstein @awi-bremerhaven.de Kirsten Fahl Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research ColumbusstraßeBremerhaven, Germany e-mail: kfahl @awi-bremerhaven.de Gennadij I. Ivanov All-Russian Research Institute for Geology and Mineral Resources VNIIOKEANGEOLOGIA, St. Petersburg, Russia e-mail: givanov @ sovam.com Michael A. Levitan P.P. Shirshov Institute of Oceanology, The Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia e-mail: mlevitan @sedim.msk.ru Gennady Tarasov Murmansk Marine Biological Institute, The Russian Academy of Sciences, Murmansk, Russia e-mail: mmbi @mun.rospac.ru TABLE OF CONTENT Preface The Joint Russian-German Kara Sea Project (1995-1 998) Stein R. History of Russian Research in the Barents - Kara Seas The History of Investigation of Bottom Sediments of the Western Arctic Shelf: the Barents and Kara Seas Kulikov N.N., Lapina N. N., and Ivanov G./. The History of Russian Geological Investigation of Bottom Sediments in The Barents and Kara Seas (with special emphasis On MMBI studies) Tarasov G.A., Matishov G.G.. Samoilovich Yu.G..and Kukina N.A The Modern System The Composition of Aerosols in the Marine Boundary Layer over the St. Anna Trough and the Barents Sea Shevchenko V.P., Vinogradova A.A., Ivanov G.I., Lisitzin A.P., and Serova V.V.
    [Show full text]
  • Mitteilungen / Notes Early Maps of the Arctic Coast of Russia
    Polarforschung 71 (3): 121 - 148, 2001 (erschienen 2003) Mitteilungen / Notes Early Maps ofthe Arctic Coast ofRussia by Eugen Seibold' Summary: The attempt, from the 16'" century on, to open up the Northeast tion" (1733-1743), wodurch große Teile des Küstenlandes östlich Nowaja Passage for marine trade in East Asian textiles and exotic spices was a driving Semlja erstmalig kartiert wurden. Interessanterweise geschah dies nicht wie force belund the exploration ofthe Russian Arctic eoast. The aim in doing this sonst im Zeitalter der Entdeckungen bei der Erkundung der Kontinente von was to brcak the Portugucsc and Spanisch trade monopoly. Until the late der Küste her flussaufwärts, sondern aus klimatischen Gründen flussabwärts. Middle Ages thcre existed antique notions of a ring-like ocean surrounding Dabei bestätigte Vitus Jona;sen Bering, dass Asien nicht mit Amerika zusam­ the Earth's land mass. These formed part of the background to the quest for menhängt. Er konnte zudem durch verbesserte astronomische Ortsbestim­ the passage. In addition thcre was vague information garnered from Pliny the mungen nachweisen, dass die wahre Ausdehnung Sibiriens auf rund 70 Grad EIder that was used for eartographical purposes until the beginning of the 18'h Nord etwa 130 Längengrade beträgt und nicht rund 90°, wie in bisherigen century. Aecording to Pliny the eoast of North Siberia was formed by a vast Karten angenommen. Das bedeutete, dass dadurch Sibirien und damit die bay flanked by two promontories, the Scythian Cape and Cape Tabin. Follow­ Nordostpassage um rund 1600 km nach Osten zu verlängern war. ing some fairly unsuccessful British attempts, Dutch explorers succeeded in drawing up maps which reached the western coast of the island of Novaya Der Fortschritt der Wissenschaft, hier der Kartographie, wurde in unserem Zemlya.
    [Show full text]
  • Article.Pdf (645.7Kb)
    eg2-pdf-AUTHOR-TandF201910152044449664-SABO1680511 Techset Composition India (P) Ltd., Bangalore and Chennai, India 10/19/2019 ACTA BOREALIA 2019, VOL. 36, NO. 2, 1–17 https://doi.org/10.1080/08003831.2019.1680511 5 A. E. Nordenskiöld in Swedish memory: the origin and uses of Arctic heroism Urban Wråkberg Department of Tourism and Northern Studies, UiT – The Arctic University of Norway, Kirkenes, Norway 10 ABSTRACT ARTICLE HISTORY For Nordic nations scientific activities in the Polar Regions proved Received 23 May 2019 significant in defining national identities and shaping scientific Accepted 25 September 2019 profiles. Starting in the nineteenth century and continuing throughout the next century, polar research proved instrumental KEYWORDS 15 Heroism; polar exploration; in inculcating national honour and expressing small-state colonial nationalism; masculinity; aspirations. It provided a source of heroes for forging collective history of geography; Adolf memory and the fostering of youth by presenting the polar Erik Nordenskiöld explorer as a model character. This study explores the ideological lineage of the nineteenth century polar hero by first relating this idol to historical archetypes of Western culture. It identifies the 20 special traits of the Nordic polar hero and discusses how it was used for patriotic purposes. As a case in point the article looks at the career of the Finnish-Swedish mineralogist and Arctic expedition leader Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld and the ways he, with the help of others, successfully navigated not only the drift ice of polar seas but also the international republic of science, and the three national scenes of Sweden, Finland and Russia. In the 25 process he was turned into a national hero both in Finland and Sweden, and presented as a patriotic role model for adolescents in the arts of postponing gratification and enduring hardship.
    [Show full text]
  • Wilhelm Filchner and Antarctica Helmut Hornik and Cornelia Lüdecke
    Berichte ??? / 2007 zur Polar- und Meeresforschung Reports on Polar and Marine Research Steps of Foundation of Institutionalized Antarctic Research Proceedings of the 1 st SCAR Workshop on the History of Antarctic Research Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities, Munich (Germany), 2-3 June, 2005 Edited by Cornelia Lüdecke Rückseite Titelblatt Steps of Foundation of Institutionalized Antarctic Research Proceedings of the 1 st SCAR Workshop on the History of Antarctic Research Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities, Munich (Germany) 2-3 June, 2005 Edited by Cornelia Lüdecke Ber. Polarforsch. Meeresfor. Xxx (2007) ISSN 1618-3193 Cornelia Lüdecke, SCAR History Action Group, Valleystrasse 40, D- 81371 Munich, Germany Contents Table of Contents Table of Contents .......... ................................................................................................I Figures List ....................................................................................................................V List of Abbreviations ...................................................................................................VI Preface .................................................................................................................iX Introduction ........................................................................................................1 1 The Dawn of Antarctic Consciousnes J. Berguño ............................................................................................................3 1.1 Introduction ...................................................................................................3
    [Show full text]
  • Arctic Studies Center Newsletter 2020
    Newsletter Smithsonian Institution National Museum of Natural History May 2020 https://naturalhistory.si.edu/research/anthropology/programs/arctic-studies-center Number 27 NOTES FROM THE DIRECTOR SI collaboration with Anchorage Museum projects and exhibition, including the Living Our Cultures By William W. Fitzhugh exhibition. What has changed is the administrative structure on the SI side. The new document is no This past year the Smithsonian set out with a new longer a straight NMNH-AM agreement. Recognizing leader, Secretary Lonnie G. Bunch III, installed on the large stake in our Alaska programs, the National 16 June. Lonnie was catapulted to the position by Museum of the American Indian is a co-signer. This his phenomenal success as founding director of the change recognizes the larger role the Anchorage office National Museum of African American History and is now playing across the Smithsonian, as you will Culture, creating the museum out of whole cloth recognize in the following reports from Aron Crowell beginning in 2005. The NMAAHC is a sensational and Dawn Biddison. We are grateful to Kirk Johnson success, engaging audiences that have never visited and Kevin Gover, John Davis, the SI Office of the the Smithsonian. Before General Counsel, and NMAAHC, Bunch others who contributed served as director of to the new agreement. the Chicago Historical The Alaska office of Society (2001–2005) and the ASC was pleased in various positions at to share news of the the Smithsonian before new MOU with the that. Smithsonian National Board (SNB) during The new Secretary has its meeting and tour in already indicated his Alaska this past July emphasis on outreach (see Crowell on SNB in and education, especially this issue).
    [Show full text]
  • “ Expéditions Polaires Françaises”, Paris
    205 NOTES AND REVIEWS NORSK POLARINSTITUTT, OSLO The following announcement was issued from Norges Svalbard- og Ishavs- undersokelser in February 1948: As from 1st March 1948 Norges Svalbard- og Ishavs-undersokelser will cease to exist, but its activity will be continued and expanded by the newly established Norsk Polarinstitutt under the direction of H. U. Sverdrup, Ph.D., Ll.D., formerly Professor of Oceanography at the University of California and Director, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, La Jolla, California. The publications of Norges Svalbard- og Ishavs-undersokelser will be continued, without break in the numbering, under the following titles: Norsk Polarinstitutt (formerly Norges Svalbard- og Ishavs-undersokelser) Skrifter. Norsk Polarinstitutt (formerly Norges Svalbard- og lshavs-undersokelser) Meddelelser. Anders K. Orvin Acting Director, Norges Svalbard- og Ishavs-undersekelser. Assistant Director, Norsk Polarinstitutt. Norges Svalbard- og Ishavs-undersokelser was founded in 1928, when it took over the work which since 1909 had been carried out by Government-supported expeditions to Svalbard. The new organisation will broaden the scope of its scientific activity, partly by adding specialists to its own permanent staff, and partly by securing the collaboration of specialists who are connected with university institutions in Oslo and Bergen or in the other scientific organisations. The sphere of interest will be expanded to include the regions in the Antarctic over which Norway claims sovereignty. The new Norsk Polarinstitutt will not absorb organisations which are primarily engaged in scientific work in the Polar regions, such as Nordlys- observatoriet (the Aurora Observatory) at Tromsa or Statens Institutt for Hvalforskning (Government Institute for Whaling Research) at Oslo.
    [Show full text]
  • Geography in Sweden
    Belgeo Revue belge de géographie 1 | 2004 Special issue : 30th International Geographical Congress Geography in Sweden Staffan Helmfrid Electronic version URL: http://journals.openedition.org/belgeo/10085 DOI: 10.4000/belgeo.10085 ISSN: 2294-9135 Publisher: National Committee of Geography of Belgium, Société Royale Belge de Géographie Printed version Date of publication: 31 March 2004 Number of pages: 163-174 ISSN: 1377-2368 Electronic reference Staffan Helmfrid, « Geography in Sweden », Belgeo [Online], 1 | 2004, Online since 17 October 2013, connection on 30 April 2019. URL : http://journals.openedition.org/belgeo/10085 ; DOI : 10.4000/ belgeo.10085 This text was automatically generated on 30 April 2019. Belgeo est mis à disposition selon les termes de la licence Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International. Geography in Sweden 1 Geography in Sweden Staffan Helmfrid 1 At the Vega banquet of 24th April 1952, celebrating the return of the Norwegian-British- Swedish Antarctic Expedition 1949-52, Sven Hedin told us in his dinner speech how as a boy he had seen the glorious return to Stockholm of SS Vega on 24th April 1880. Seeing the fireworks and the royal festivity in honour of the conqueror of the Northeast-Passage, Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld, he took a solemn decision to return one day like Nordenskiöld as a hero explorer of unknown lands. 2 With the Vega expedition geography was at the front of a new period of scientific glory in Sweden. But it was not yet established at Swedish universities. It was taught within history, geology or politology. Sven Hedin was the first Swede to acquire a “Doktor”- degree in geography.
    [Show full text]